Linking up with Marg at The Intrepid Reader
10 April 2026
This coffee stand was at the bottom of the hotel stairs.
John's photos from his walk yesterday, He did 7 km and it was 21 C out. Not so this week!!
No buds yet on the trees.
SATURDAY
We received our gluten free flour order and two new pillows. John didn't believe the pillows would really fluff up, but they did! They vacuum pack them as flat as a pancake!
I played sous-chef and got everything (mise en place) ready for John to bake a couple of cinnamon raisin loaves.
I did some laundry and John striped the bed, a job I hate. We really need to replace our mattress soon!
I cleaned up/filed some of My Documents folder. Converted some files into Google docs.
SUNDAY
I put away last night's pots that were on drying rack.
Got out breakfast dished, made my breakfast and ate it while checking e-mail and Twitter. Washed up breakfast dishes.
Caught up on the news, read about 6 blogs, added a new blog to my list, responded to blog comments. Scheduled one Weekend Roundup blog, drafted three others. Posted a quick post. Learned another feature of the Snipping app.
Planned two outings after looking up the location of a mural.
Renamed and updated a draft blog.
Labelled and filed latest 2026 photos.
Found around 10 new books in various places and added either to library wishlist or Goodreads Want to Read, if library didn't have them.
Made a To Do list and update for the rest of today.Shower get dressed. Tidy 1 top drawer (learned I didn't need the 2 chemises I bought as I already had 2 in those colours added lavender essential oil to sachet) and 1 bathroom drawer MONDAY. Tie up shredded bag for garbage/loading dock along with two old pillows. BONUS changed bag and shredded more stuff. Complete charity donation bag BONUS ADDED CDS. Take out lamb for dinner. Fix bobbin on sewing machine. Debated getting rid of candle, lit it instead. Make meal plan. Work on one of those projects that seem never-ending. FINISHED 1MONDAY. Gather items for tailor this week.
Made a To Do list and update for the rest of today.
Not on list but done. Found potato recipe for Friday. Read more blogs, there are 3 or 4 that I read on a daily basis plus the ones' on my sidebar. Drafted a couple of posts.
Washed the kitchen floor and also deep cleaned the fatigue mats. Investigated some more books. Found a new cafe to visit. Frittered around. Ordered some shower steamers.
Hung up clothes.
Baked a coconut flour chocolate cake (I had homemade ganache to use up), this cake is gluten free and dairy free, only uses one bowl!!
I read for an hour. Borrowed some magazines from the library.
I watched an hour while cooking of YouTube.
MONDAY
Monday Mural Memphis
Foto Tunes New Orleans
Did some administrivia, updating spreadsheets and filing. I also found some photos that were never scanned for some odd reason.
John went to pick up his golf clubs.
Well, that was weird, I was tidying in the pantry and there was a case of coke (Costco) on top of the freezer that was stuck to the fridge. A can of coke had leaked with no apparent holes!
I ran out to Longo's.
Then I finished one of those projects that hung around for too long. YAY me 👍Vietnam Recap.
Interesting Amazon Canadian employees make $25 an hour.
TUESDAY
Thank goodness it's spring!
Wouldn't you know that we had plans for lunch with friends, on the coldest possible April day, at least we had sunshine.
They parked here and we took the shuttle downtown, since we were early we dropped into the "new" Union Hotel" and it turned out they had stayed there on business years ago when it was the Strathcona Hotel.
They had never tried Vietnamese food so we went to Senla and it was wonderful. We shared a small bottle of sake to start with. It was served cold which led to a discussion, hot or cold?
.
I had charcoal octopus satay, herb dressing, everyone pronounced it delicious. The others had the spring rolls. Portion sizes are large.
They had the duck curry, it looked very good, large portions, and they said it was the best duck that they'd eaten.
John had the Beef Pho - beef tenderloin, rice noodles, onions, beef broth, also enjoyed.
I had shaking beef 8 oz tenderloin cubes, pepper sauce, watercress salad, fried rice. This is too much beef for me at any time, it was very tender! The sweet potato fries were crispy and I ate them all!
I chose this because I had tried it in Hue Vietnam.
On the bus home, I spotted this little house, advertising, obviously.
The shower steamers were delivered, like this! They were returned!
WEDNESDAY
I cut through the hotel and was lucky to find the Royal York Easter display still up!
I meant to include this photo in last week's post about rabbit holing and analog tracking.
And I found the owner of the Snuggle house.
THURSDAY
I did intend on going out, but never did. I tidied up the fridge in anticipation of John's Costco run.
Putting it away takes some planning and menu adjustments.
I froze two yogurt containers of beef stock (for soup) that I made, and another that I froze into small containers to use as beef stock since it is so hard to find at Costco. I also made a pot of soup for lunch from it.
Did some more administrivia.
Costco - John got a huge amount of asparagus!! But I'm not worried about using it. I found an interesting recipe for asparagus and celery soup, which will use up the stems and some of the celery from a previous Costco trip.
I've been craving scallops so he got some along with frozen shrimp.
FRIDAY
We had planned on going to a soon to be gone old-fashioned diner for breakfast, but it was raining and we didn't feel like it.
John booked the golf simulator for 1:30 so I wandered around College Park and picked up some needed items at Farm Boy and the $ store.
I started the asparagus and celery soup. UPDATE I didn't finish making it. It looked and smelled unappealing to both of us. We also thought it would not be very tasty.
COOKING
Since I compared latte and cappuccino last week, I thought I'd find out more.MENU
SATURDAY
L - bacon and tomato sandwiches. D - ham, mashed potatoes and Brussel sprouts
SUNDAY
L - ham D - oven lamb chops, Greek lemon roasted potatoes, carrots oven, and asparagus and scallions.
MONDAY
L - ham salad sandwiches D - Spaghetti with meat sauce
TUESDAY
L - OUT D - popcorn
WEDNESDAY
L - leftover spaghetti D - ham potato egg hash and tomato
THURSDAY
L - homemade beef soup D - scallops with lemon garlic cream sauce (sauce wasn't impressive), asparagus and Greek lemon potatoes (again, because the last version was so good)
FRIDAY
L - egg onion sandwiches D - steak, asparagus and garlic toast (use up some stale bread)
WATCHING
We finished The Cleaning Lady so we watched The Madison The Madison is a neo-Western, 6 episode television series created by Taylor Sheridan. The series follows the Clyburn family, originally from New York City, who relocate to the Madison River valley of southwest Montana for emotional recovery following a major life-changing tragedy that both shocks and permanently changes the family. Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell lead the series. Pfeiffer is excellent. Russell is and looked too old for a 65 yo.
It is essentially a soap opera with gorgeous vistas.
John PVR'd Weapons as it starred Julia Garner, a girl crush of mine. When all but one child from the same class mysteriously vanish on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance. Listed as dark comedy, monster horror.
I hadn't heard the expression Aunt Gladys until today when I saw this meme on a Facebook page Weird Toronto and didn't understand it until the movie, how weird was that! IYKYK!
I am definitely going to started finished watching this Australian 12 part series The Brides of Christ! The struggles of nuns and students at a Roman Catholic convent school in 1960s Sydney. AND Brenda Fricker!! AND Russell Crowe!!
The episodes are not quite in the right order but you'll figure it out.
OMG the girls making their First Communion could be me, on mine!!!
Typing class, although I didn't take one, I taught myself.
Kneeling for communion. Hats/scarves at mass. Front facing masses. Birth control.
I am also going to watch, also on YouTube, Berkeley Square. So far I've only found it with sub-titles. UPDATE you can find it in English on DailyMotion (you have to turn off your ad blocker) and SirJohn seems to have the best version.
I watched the first episode of Australia Dessert Masters season 2. I can't stand that French host, it is a good thing that Melissa is there!
I also watched the Great British Bake Off while in the kitchen, I think I know who will win.
I see the latest season of MasterChef Australia is beginning! It is the best!! I'm hoping that my secret little place will be uploading the episodes as they air, as it takes forever for them to show up here on Prime streaming!
READING
Again I didn't read much, as I'm still plowing away with Adrenaline.
MAGAZINES
This book struck a core with me. Love her name!!!
The 4% Fix: How One Hour Can Change Your Life by Karma Brown is a non-fiction book focusing on time management, productivity, and personal fulfillment. It argues that dedicating just one hour (4% of your day) to a personal passion or goal can reduce feelings of being overwhelmed and lead to significant, positive life changes without requiring massive schedule overhauls.
I saw this recently.
If you need to get any book on the internet, type the name of the book followed by “doctype:pdf” and you’ll get the book in pdf format
For example, Purple Hibiscus doctype:pdf
Purple Hibiscus doctype:pdf
I just recently learned that YouTube has full movies on it (sheesh, where have I been?) I just watched "We Have Always Lived In The Castle," based on Shirley Jackson's psychological horror novel. I've wanted to see it for some time but could never find it on my other streaming services. It was good and hey, can't beat the price -- free!
ReplyDeleteIt really does have some good stuff! Have you used Hoopla, it is attached to your library card. It has some great stuff as well, but limited to 8 a month.
DeleteDailyMotion is also great although it has ads.
Senla is a beautiful space -- I love those lanterns!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to check if Hoopla is attached to our Edmonton library cards too -- never heard of it before, but then again, it's not like my finger is on the pulse of the latest technology, LOL
ReplyDeleteI don't remember that Brides of Christ had such a good cast. Gosh, it was so long ago.
ReplyDeleteI'm very interested in rabbit holes and doing analog things. I bought a copy of Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi this morning; I remember reading this book long ago, and most of it was over my head. Somehow I think flow is tied (in my brain, at least) to doing analog things and pursuing rabbit holes.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! It got so cold there! We had a cold spell, too, (probably the remnants from your part of the world) and it was so refreshing.
I just popped over to the library (digital) and placed a hold on Flow! I think Jinjer has got us thinking about rabbit holes and analog activities. The cold spells should be over by now.
DeleteSenLa decor and food look good. Thank you for your weekend coffee share and the doctype,pdf tip.
ReplyDeleteYou gave us a plethora of drinks for T this week, Jackie. I especially like the various espresso drinks. I've never had Sake, so saw you had an entire bottle.
ReplyDeleteYour beef meal sounds good and I see what looks like beer and water to drink, too.
I used to own a Snuggle bear, but I gave it away. Now I want another one. I'll say this again. You spend more at Costco in one trip than I spend in six months on groceries.
Thanks for joining us for T this Tuesday, dear Jackie.
Actually, we shared a 300 ml (10 oz) bottle between us. These prices are in Canadian $ so it would be less in American. I do a lot of cooking and baking. As well, I am in the process of trying to build a good pantry of items as prices are skyrocketing.
Delete